The Redvers Fire Department has had a busy 2023 as the team has worked on helping out the community while learning new skills. Chief Brad Hutton says that training covers a wide variety of roles. "We hosted a vehicle firefighting course and then several members took in a hazmat awareness and operations course, which is offered for Regina Beach Fire department, so we utilized out-of-area training as well to help optimize saving some money and just getting people qualified and up to speed with training that not very many of us have had lately." "One thing we did venture out and upgrade, which is a huge upgrade is CO monitors and oxygen sensor monitors. So now we've got four or five head monitors so we can read hazardous toxins and oxygen levels, CO, H2S, and LEL. So we're more equipped for anywhere from the oil field operations where there might be H2S or gas leaks and then back to houses too if there's CO alarms going off." Those monitors can also help detect toxins in the air which can determine whether a building is safe to enter for firefighters, cutting down on potential medical problems. They are looking at updating some equipment once 2024 comes around. "We are going to target a newer truck here, one of these days. We want to keep our frontline truck under 20 years old, so we're approaching that because one of our trucks is a 2006 and an 07 so I think the goals this year are going to be fundraised towards getting a new or newer truck. So that will be one of the focuses of 2024." They'll focus on recruiting more members as well since it's always nice to have more than their current 20-22 members. Medical services will also get some help from the fire department as Hutton says the medical system could use an occasional hand. "Probably aim a little bit more on the medical side of stuff. This year we have about four or five medical assists with the ambulance. So anywhere from cardiac arrest type calls to just lift assist to help get people out of houses either if they're diabetic or heart problems type thing so we're always willing to help out with the ambulance in town." "We know how medical services are sometimes suffering for ER and emergency rooms so we'll target a bit lower that direction as well to make sure we're more helpful when we are called to help." They'll also be looking at doing more presentations, both in school for fire safety and in the community to encourage safe driving habits. In response to Canada's Online News Act and Meta (Facebook and Instagram) removing access to local news from their platforms, DiscoverEstevan and DiscoverWeyburn encourage you to get your news directly from your trusted source by bookmarking this page and downloading the DiscoverEstevan app and the DiscoverWeyburn app.